Kilimanjaro Team Training 28th April

"Pushing for miles on the roads and pavements, can be tough. Off road, on rough terrain with steep climbs and drops, is pretty gruelling," said John, at the end of another intensive three hour push in South Wales this morning.

Handsome Harris

We set out at 8.30am on a dank and cold Spring morning, John Harris doing a great impression of a bank robber along with some of the other members of his Kilimanjaro Charity Challenge team mates. John was still using an old light but general use wheelchair, with small front wheels and slick (no tread) big wheels - far from ideal for any off-road terrain.

Marc Eckley, John Harris & Simon Deacy

As ever, John is chirpy and looking forward to 'a great push', as though this is just another day at the office. The rest of us are a little more circumspect. As we set out at John's sensible pace, Marc Eckley, the man behind the challenge, tells us of the home made thank-you card he had received on Friday when visiting a very poorly little boy in hospital. Marc had built a treehouse for the little boy following the intervention of the Dreams and Wishes Children's Charity. We were all touched by the story, and this was another example of why we were doing Kilimanjaro.

A few minutes into today's trek and we were crossing a wooden slatted bridge over the River Wye. For the walkers, it presented no problem at all, but for John the one inch change in levels, required a lot of attention, otherwise he was likely to snag the front wheels and find himself propelled out of the chair.

We then hit a lot of mixed terrain, mud, stones, shale, grass and some hard 1km rises. The effort John makes, with slippery wheels and wet hands is phenomenal, and he puts that power down for prolonged periods of time. If John was still a young man, you might been left in awe, at 67, his efforts are simply remarkable.

On the steeper inclines, on difficult terrain, we take it in turns to help John climb. It's backbreaking and lung bursting after a couple of hundred metres, but we know this is the type of training we need in preparation for the trials of Mount Kilimanjaro. The front wheels snag a lot, bringing the wheelchair to a lurching halt, but whereas John had ended out of the chair every time this has happened in the past, we manage to keep him and the wheelchair intact throughout the whole trek.

Ever Smiling

The wonderful thing about doing this type of training with John, is that you get to hear one of the great storytellers in action, hour after hour. He smiles throughout the whole trek, and his recovery rate given his age, puts much younger men to shame.

Towards the end of the trek, even the de-fatiguable, 'Handsome' John Harris admits that his pecs and shoulders are aching. A trek of around 6k, with plenty of climbs, this has been another excellent test for all concerned and we all learned a bit more about each other.

Putting in a huge effort!

Back at our starting point, we catch a quick coffee to catch our breath and arrange the next training trek.  Quickly cleaned up and in fresh clothes, John is back on top form within minutes, and whilst everybody else looks as though they could do with a quick doze, John seems ready to start all over again. "Anybody would think you lot worked hard," he chortled.

A well deserved bite of lunch

It's some jabs for John and Deb his girlfriend, on Wednesday, and then more training next weekend, but in the meantime, we'll try and introduce you to the rest of the team too.

You can send a donation to support John's Charity Challenge through the Just Giving Page at : https://www.justgiving.com/fullcircleltd/